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INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
                 CHEMICAL SAFETY FOR SUSTAINABLITY RESEARCH
     Revolutionizing EPA Research
     The U.S. Environmental
     Protection Agency (EPA) is
     blazing a path forward to address
     today's most challenging
     environmental problems while
     proactively anticipating those of
     the future. Today's
     environmental problems are
     increasingly more complex and
     require an innovative research
     approach that provides effective,
     efficient and sustainable
     solutions.

     This approach to EPA research
     requires the diverse capabilities
     of scientists and engineers as
     well as economists, social
     scientists, and policy makers.
     EPA research plans must
     incorporate continuous input
     from external stakeholders such
     as Federal, State, and local
     government agencies, non-
     governmental organizations,
     industry, and communities
     affected by environmental
     problems.

     Research innovations are needed
     to meet the environmental
     challenges of the 21st Century.
     EPA is aligning and integrating
     its research into six priority
     program areas to meet these
     needs. They are:

        •   Air, Climate, and Energy
        •   Safe and Sustainable
           Water Resources
        •   Sustainable and Healthy
           Communities
               •   Chemical Safety for
                   Sustainability
               •   Human Health Risk
                   Assessment
               •   Homeland Security

            Background
            Chemical safety is a major
            priority of EPA and its research.
            Moving toward a safer and more
            sustainable environment requires
            producing new and existing
            chemicals in safer ways. It means
            having the information and
            methods needed to make better-
            informed, more-timely decisions
            about chemicals.

            The challenges are formidable:
            tens of thousands of chemicals
            are currently in use and hundreds
            more are introduced every year.
            Many of these chemicals have
            not been thoroughly evaluated
            for potential risks to human
            health and the environment. The
            consequences of use over a
            chemical's life cycle (from
            production to disposal) are not
            currently thoroughly evaluated.

            EPA research on chemical safety
            is geared to meet this challenge.
Using innovative approaches,
EPA scientists and their partners
are embracing the principles of
green chemistry to produce safer
chemicals. They are also
integrating a diversity of
scientific disciplines to develop
new prediction techniques,
pioneering the use of innovative
technologies for chemical
toxicity testing, and designing
tools to advance the management
of chemical risks.

Chemical Safety for
Sustainability includes research
in computational toxicology,
nanotechnology, endocrine
disrupting chemicals, human
health and pesticides.

Research Focus Areas
Chemical Safety for
Sustainability research is focused
on three main areas.

1. Provide Scientific Knowledge,
Tools & Models for Integrated
Evaluation Strategies

The research goal is to develop
the scientific knowledge, tools,

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           U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
           Office of Research and Development

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and models needed to improve
chemical safety information that
can be used in assessments and to
make decisions about their use.

Research in this area will provide
critical information for
assessments and decision making
on chemical exposure and
impacts to humans and wildlife at
the individual and population
levels. This research area has
multiple levels including
chemical properties,
prioritization and screening,
hypothesis-driven targeted
research and systems
understanding of complex
environmental risk.

2. Improve Assessment and
Inform Management for
Chemical Safety

The research goal  is to facilitate
faster, more efficient, more
certain,  and sustainable chemical
assessments and management
decisions. Research will support
the next generation of risk
assessment and management
approaches to help screen and
prioritize chemicals for their
safety and make major regulatory
decisions to protect human health
and wildlife.

These chemical risk assessment
and management methods will:
1) Lead to better and more
efficient assessments and 2)
Provide risk management options
that better target where  risks are
more likely to occur throughout a
chemical's life cycle from
production to disposal.
3. Target High Priority
Research Needs for Immediate
and Focused Attention

The research goal is to address
the highest priority needs of
EPA's program and regional
offices, which are responsible for
developing regulations and
ensuring they are implemented,
respectively. The work focuses
on filling critical data gaps and
identifying high priority needs of
chemical management programs
using the products of the other
two research areas.

Timeline
Research planning is based on
iterative discussions with other
EPA offices and external
stakeholders to ensure that the
research products align with
needs. The plan is to fully
implement this integrated
approach to  research by October
2011.

Get Involved
 EPA continues to seek input
from stakeholders (ranging from
academia, industry, non-
governmental organizations and
state/local governments) to
develop the  Chemical Safety for
Sustainability research
framework that guides the
research. The framework
document describes how EPA
and its stakeholders envision
providing integrated solutions to
chemical management decisions
and guides the development of
EPA's research plans.
Contact: Monica Linnenbrink,
linnenbrink. monica(a),epa.gov.
919-541-1522.
        U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
        Office of Research and Development

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